Posts Tagged ‘karachi target killing’

Death toll in Karachi unrest rises to 20

GULF TODAY || Wednesday 15th June 2011, Rajab 12, 1432 || KARACHI: The death toll in a fresh wave of violence blamed on political and ethnic tensions in Pakistan’s biggest city of Karachi rose to at least 20 on Wednesday, an official said.

Renewed tensions between the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Awami National Party (ANP), which represent different ethnic communities, have triggered serious fears that the violence could spill over on a wider scale.

“The death toll has risen to 20 with eight more targeted killings overnight in different areas of Karachi,” provincial home ministry spokesman Sharfuddin Memon said.

The violence erupted late on Monday.

The government in Sindh province said it had stepped up police and paramilitary patrols in the troubled western and central neighbourhoods to avert further killings.

Memon gave no specific reason for the renewed violence in Karachi but analysts believe conflicting interests of political forces and poor governance trigger routine flare-ups.

“Karachi is a big city where crime and corruption is rampant and targeted killings is convenient cover for criminal mafia to continue their activities,” analyst Imtiaz Gul said.

“While political parties fight to retain their clout in the city, criminal gangs, involved in organised crimes take advantage of the situation.”

Both MQM and ANP have accused each other of killing their supporters, fanning tensions within Karachi that reverberate to the capital Islamabad, where both factions are also members of the federal governing coalition.

In 2010, political violence in Karachi was dominated by flare-ups in August after an MQM lawmaker was shot dead and in October on the eve of the election for his successor.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 748 people – 447 political activists and the rest civilians – were killed in targeted shootings in the city last year.

Paramilitary soldiers stand guard on a street in Karachi on October 18. — Photo by AFP

Gunmen’s spree cripples Karachi, 51 killed

October 20, 2010 6:05:46 PM

AP | ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s largest city reeled Wednesday after gunmen opened fire in a commercial market, killing 11 people in the latest spasm of violence to underscore the poor state of law and order in this U.S.-allied nation.

At least 51 people, including several political activists, have been killed and dozens more wounded since Saturday in Karachi, a sprawling port city of more than 16 million residents that is prone to political, ethnic and religious strife.

Many killings in Karachi have been linked to gangs allegedly controlled by political parties. The attack on the market occurred late Tuesday and its victims included eight Pakistanis of Baluch descent, said Sharmila Farooqi, a provincial government spokeswoman. The wave of violence in the city has coincided with Sunday’s election to replace a provincial lawmaker killed in August.

Because of its status as the country’s main economic hub, keeping Karachi calm is of prime importance to Pakistani leaders who have already seen criminal activity soar alongside Taliban-led Islamist militant violence.

A major chunk of supplies for U.S. and NATO troops is shipped to the city before traveling overland in Pakistan and into neighboring Afghanistan.

Farooqi said police had detained 55 suspects in connection with the latest violence, and that some were linked to local political parties. Security forces were patrolling the city to prevent fresh violence Wednesday, she said.

The two parties most linked to violence in Karachi _ the Muttahida Quami Movement and the Awami National Party _ have their electoral bases in different ethnic groups that make up a large share of the city’s population.

The MQM claims to represent the Urdu-speaking descendants of those people who came to Karachi from India soon after the birth of Pakistan in 1947. It is secular and likes to speak out against the so-called Talibanization of the city, a jab at the Awami National Party, which represents the ethnic Pashtuns from the Taliban heartland in the northwest.

Raza Haider, the member of the provincial assembly who was gunned down in August, was a senior member of the MQM.

Both parties were competing for Haider’s vacant seat, but the ANP announced Saturday evening that it would boycott the election, saying the MQM would rig the vote. The MQM won the seat. MQM lawmaker Haider Abbas Rizvi said the party had handed authorities a list of 150 alleged criminals it suspects in the attacks but that nothing had come of it. He not only blamed the ANP, but also faulted the Pakistan People’s

Party, which control’s the provincial government.

ANP spokesman Amin Khattak said the MQM was to blame, noting that the killings began shortly after his party said it would boycott the election.

Also Wednesday, a police constable was wounded when someone threw a grenade at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Pakistan’s main northwestern city, Peshawar, said Liaquat Ali, a senior police official. Peshawar is right on the edge of Pakistan’s tribal belt, a lawless stretch of territory along the Afghan border where many militants shelter.

updated on 12.01.2010 by alertpak

By Imran Ayub || Monday, 11 Jan, 2010 || Courtesy : DAWN.

Doctors treat an injured policeman who suffered wounds in a firing incident in Karachi’s Pak Colony on Saturday. –Online

KARACHI: Ten more people, including political activists, were killed in different parts of the city on Sunday, as law-enforcement agencies remained unable to control the recent spate of killings.

The tight measures taken for the security of President Asif Ali Zardari and visiting British foreign minister David Milliband in the city could not prevent the incidents of abduction and killing.

Most of these killings, however, were reported in the early hours of Sunday or after sunset.

Two young men were shot dead by unidentified attackers outside a restaurant in Sector 32-D of Korangi.

The Korangi Industrial Area police said that Sabit Hussain, 26, and Mohammad Rizwan, 30, were sitting outside Sharjah Restaurant when two men riding a motorbike arrived and opened fire on them.

Six more shot dead in Karachi. Situation under control or to be worsening ??

KARACHI: The ongoing spell of target killings and firing incidents claimed more six lives in Karachi, raising the death toll in last 24 hours to 13, Geo News reported Sunday.

According to police sources, at least 41 people have lost their lives during the last four days in various areas of the city.

The bodies of two unidentified men were found near Malir River in the limits of Shah Latif police station; they were shot down.

Syed Ikhlaq–an activist of a political party—has been gunned down in Nazimabad Khamosh colony and 20-year Zeeshan s/o Noman was killed in Old Haji Camp firing incident.

Body of Irfan Lahoti was found from Idgah area; the deceased is said to hail from a group based in Liyari.

In Sarjani Town also, some unidentified men killed a man Shahid Iqbal with gunshots.

Latest four more people died in sporadic incidents of violence in various parts of Karachi on Sunday, DawnNews reported. Nine people were killed in target killings in Karachi on Saturday, raising tensions between coalition partners Pakistan People’s Party and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement. Tensions were high, with the MQM threatening to quit the ruling coalition both at the centre and in Sindh. A total of 31 people have lost their lives since Thursday as gun battles and aerial fire shook large swathes of the city’s old quarter. Security personnel also came under fire. The situation in Lyari, Pak Colony, Ranchore Line, Garden and Kharadar was being described as tense by law enforcement agencies.